izigame.me

I was a big fan of the 2019 Netflix reboot cartoon when it was airing, so I was psyched when I saw the ads for this game. Unlike the original Carmen Sandiego games, in Netflix's reimagining, Carmen is a thief who steals from other thieves, so she's ultimately on the same side as the law (whether the law enforcement agencies recognize that or not). I can understand that being jarring for people who were fans of the original games who aren't familiar with the 2019 cartoon, so I think it's important to highlight that this is a separate continuity where Carmen's backstory is completely different.
This game has a "campaign mode" (the main storyline) as well as a "freeplay mode" (the ACME Files). The facts you learn in each mode carry over to the other mode, and the way the level progression is set up encourages players to spend some time playing the ACME Files in between sections of the main story. In the main storyline, there are set locations, culprits, and hints that will be the same every time, whereas in the ACME Files, they're randomized, much like the original games. Gameplay in the ACME Files is the same as the original Carmen Sandiego games, "point and click" style with pixel art.
In the main storyline (as well as the current FestiVILE caper), you get to explore many of the city locations in 3D looking for clues. There are also sections where Carmen must travel using her grappling hook or her hang glider, pickpocket someone for information, and other gameplay mechanics that are new for the Carmen Sandiego franchise. There are puzzles to solve and a few sections that resemble Quick-Time Events from older games. Carmen almost feels like a family-friendly version of the original Lara Croft, and I love that about her.
There are a couple of minor things that could be improved about it. There are a couple sections where you're asked to choose what Carmen should do where you don't have any information to help you determine which is more likely to work -- like choosing whether to try to catch up to a VILE thief Carmen is chasing versus to go around in some way and try to cut them off -- and so it feels like it's a matter of chance rather than skill or knowledge. Also, some of the hints can be confusing as to what they're intended to indicate. The costume menu option shows her outfit from the show with the blue shirt, but it doesn't seem like there's currently a way to unlock that one.
The first three episodes (each of which consist of three capers) of the main storyline have been released at launch, with other episodes coming at some undisclosed point in the future. I'm biased as a fan of the cartoon, but I've been really enjoying the storyline and I'm excited to see what comes next. I do want to note that it's fairly short as far as storylines go, so far. I've played 10.5 hours and have finished the currently released sections of the main storyline, finished the FestiVILE caper, completed all five difficulty levels of ACME Files cases at least once, and unlocked the DLC costume for Carmen. But since the ACME Files are randomized each time, and you can always choose from all five difficulty levels depending on how much of a challenge you want, those have a lot of replayability to me.